Concrete pre-fabricated space frame structure



sept-29, 1970 `Filed Deo. 2:5, 196e MEzEs 3,530,626

CONCRETE PRE-FABRICATED SPACE FRAME STUCTURE 5 Sheets-Sheet l A TTORNEY C sept.29,1970

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CONCRETE PRE-FABRICATED SPACE FRAME STUCTURE y FiledDe. 23, 1968 5 Sheets-Sheet 4 NVENTOR Istvun MEZES Sept. 29, 1970 Ml-:zEs 3,530,526

CONCRETE PRE-FABRICATED SPACE FRAME STUCTURE Filed beg. 23, 196s 5 sheets-sheet 5 NVENTOR Ish/on MEZES United States Patent 3,530,626 CONCRETE PRE-FABRICATED SPACE FRAME STRUCTURE Istvan Mezes, 47 Prospect St., Westmount, Quebec, Canada Continuation-in-part of application Ser. No. 624,304, Mar. 20, 1967. This application Dec. 23, 1968, Ser. No. 785,888

Int. Cl. E04h 1/04; E04b 5/02 U.S. Cl. 52-204 4 Claims ABSTRACT F THE DISCLOSURE A concrete pre-fabricated space frame structure includes a number of vertically arranged, reinforced concrete, load bearing wall panels spaced apart at the desired width of the bay or room that is to be formed between these wall panels. The floors of the building are formed by Hoor elements or slabs supported on the load bearing walls.

This is a continuation-in-part application of U.S. patent application S.N. 624,304, led Mar. 20, 1967 now abandoned.

This invention relates to a concrete pre-fabricated space frame structure.

In accordance with the present invention, there is provided a concrete pre-fabricated space frame structure including a plurality of spaced-apart, vertical wall panels, and a plurality of horizontal elements forming floors, the panels and elements together forming bays or rooms, the floor elements including a first type of element the length of which is greater than the spacing between adjacent wall panels and arranged in cooperation with two panels in such manner that each element of the rst type spans the space between the two cooperating panels and projects beyond both these panels to form cantilevered portions, and elements of a second type the length of which is less than the spacing between adjacent wall panels, elements of the second type having their ends supported by cantilevered portions of two elements of the iirst type.

In a further embodiment of the present invention, the oor elements comprise a plurality of identical elements having a rst central portion of predetermined width and longitudinally extending tongue portions of substantially half the width of the central portion, the tongue portions extend from each end of the central portion so that when the floor elements are laid, each floor element is fully supported by two spaced-apart parallel vertical wall panels and the tongues of abutting floor elements interlock with each other and with adjacent oor elements.

It is also a further aspect of the present invention to provide wall panels having cut-out ends such that the adjacent abutting end-to-end wall panel defines a door opening between the panels.

A further aspect of the present invention is to provide a connecting system for connecting the vertically disposed wall panels in relation tov each other.

The invention will now be described in greater detail with reference to the accompanying drawings in which:

FIG. l is a view of a building incorporating a space frame structure in accordance with the present invention with one end wall of the building omitted to show the internal construction.

FIG. 2 is a perspective view of the structure of FIG. l and shows additional detail,

FIG. 3 is a vertical section through an outside wall of the building of FIG. 2,

FIG. 4 is a vertical cross section showing one form of joint between two horizontal structural elements,

FIG. 5 is an alternative form of the structure shown in FIG. 4 and also shows a parapet beam,

ice

FIG. 5a is a section on the line A-A of FIG. 5,

FIG. 6 is a perspective view of the tloor elements according to one aspect of the invention,

FIG. 7 is an elevation view of the iioor elements shown in FIG. v6 in relation to the supporting wall panels,

FIG. 8 is an elevation view of the end-to-end abutting corridor wall panels, and

FIG. 9 is an enlarged sectional view taken vertically through two vertically disposed Wall panels in relation to a floor panel, showing the connecting means between the wall panels.

Referring firstly to FIG. 1, the illustrated structure includes a plurality of vertically arranged, reinforced concrete, load bearing wall panels 10 which are spaced apart at the desired width of the bay or room that is to be formed therebetween. The oors of the building are formed by floor elements or slabs of two different types. The iirst elements, referenced 11, have a horizontal length greater than' the spacing between adjacent panels 10 so that each element 11 forms the iloor of one bay and projects for a certain distance, for example, four feet, beyond the two Walls 10 with which it cooperates. These projecting portions have been referenced 12 in FIG. l. The other floor elements are referenced 13 in FIG. 1 and it will be noted that these are of a width less than the distance between each pair of wall panels 10. The edges of the elements -13 are supported by the edges of the cantilevered portions 12 and the details of the interlock between the edges of the elements 14 and the cantilevered portions 12 will be described hereinafter.

As will be seen from FIG. 1, each element 11 and 13 has a width which is far less than the length of the panels 10. In the illustrated embodiment, the width of each element 11 and 13 is approximately one-quarter the length of the panel 10 so that four elements 11 and 13 must be placed side by side to form a floor structure equal in length to the length of the panel 10. It will also clearly be seen from FIG. l that the part of the uppermost oor or roof to the left of the center wall panels 10 is composed of elements 11, 13, 11 and 13 whereas the floor to the right of the center wall panels 10 is composed of elements 13, 11, 13 and 11. Thus in adjacent bays, the iloor elements are out of step. Furthermore, it should be noted that each element 11 is is vertically above and below an element 13 so that taking any vertical line through the building elements 11 and 13 are encountered alternatively.

If reference is made to the respective view illustrated in FIG. 2, a number of elements 11 and 13 forming the roof of the structure have been referenced and it is believed that the check-board pattern in which these elements are arranged will be clearly apparent from that figure.

Also illustrated in FIG. 2 is the manner in which the front or outside wall of the building is constructed. Each panel 10 is cast with a protruding tongue 14 at one end thereof. When a pair of panels 10 are arranged, as illustrated in FIG. l, one above the other, this gives rise to a notch 15 which extends both above and below one of the floors of the structure. Parapet beams 16, illustrated in FIG. 2, are seated in these grooves 15 as will now be explained in detail with reference to FIG. 3. Each parapet beam 16 is separated from the floor element 11 and wall panels 10 by a thermal gap 17 and rests, via a neoprene pad 18, on the horizontal upper surface 19 of the tongue 14 immediately therebetween. Windows 20 are suitably secured between adjacent parapet beams 16. The beams 16 are secured to the wall panels 10 by means of bolts 21 passing through the beams 16 and grouted into suitable bores in the panels 10. Neoprene rings 22 are located between the beams 16 and the adjacent panels 10 and surround the bolts 21, these rings act as spacers to prevent the beams 16 touching the panels 10. Suitable waterproofing and insulating material generally indicated at 23 is provided in the gaps between the beams 16 and the panels 10.

A number of parapet beams 16 are placed end to end to traverse the entire width of the building. These beams interlock as illustrated in FIGS. and 5a. Adjacent beams 16 have upper and lower, horizontally projecting tongues 16a and 16b which interlock with one another, and also have downwardly projecting and upwardly projecting tonges 16e and 16d (FIG. 5a) which also interlock with one another.

The floor elements 11 and 13 can be secured to one another along their edges in any desired manner. As illustrated in FIG. 4, the element 13 has a groove 24 running along the edge thereof and the element 11 has a tongue 25 shaped to conform to the shape of the groove 24. The tongue and groove connection thus constituted is filled with a suitable sealing compound generally indicated at 26.

In this figure, the connection between the panel and the element 13 is also indicated, this being by means of vertical bolts 27 passing through the element 13 and being grouted into the panel 10. A water barrier material 28 is provided between the panel 10 and the element 13 and extends completely across the upper surface of the elements 11 and 13 thus forming a suitable barrier between elements 11 and 13 and the floor covering indicated generally at 29.

Reverting now to FIG. 2, structural corridor elements 30 and 31 have been illustrated, these running across the structure parallel to the parapet beams 16. The connection between the panels 10 and the corridor elements 30 and 31 is as follows. Each panel 10 has a projecting tongue 32, best seen in FIG. 1 to the right of the center wall 10, which projects into a slot 33 in one of the corridor elements 30 or 31.

The structure of the present invention results in every constructive bay or room of the structure being braced horizontally, in an almost monolithic manner, although built from pre-fabricated slabs.

Parapet beams 16 are structural members and serve to tie the wall panels 10. The arrangement of the parapet beams as described is such that only alternate parapet beams, considered both horizontally and vertically, are bolted to the panels 10 by the bolts 21, the other beams being loose and held in place by the bolted beams 16 via the above described tongue arrangement (FIG. 5a). For example, in FIG. 5a, if the beam 16 including the tongue 16e is secured to the panels 10, the interlock between the tongues 16C and 16d prevents any movement of the other beam 16 illustrated in that figure.

The modified structure of FIG. 5 for connecting two elements 11 and 13 includes a weather-bar 32 which is a 16 gauge copper sheet cast in the element 13 and projecting from the edge thereof. The element 11 is provided with a groove 33 which receives the projecting part of the bar 13. Parts of the structure of FIG. 5 which have a counterpart in FIG. 4 are referenced accordingly.

The entire structure illustrated reduces thermal movements of the exposed elements and minimizes the possibility of damage being caused by stresses created due to thermal expansion.

To take up the effects of wind loading it is possible to arrange certain vertical panels 10, for example those at the left and right hand ends of the building as illustrated in FIG. 2, perpendicularly to the illustrated panels 10.

The resulting structure is a self-reinforced pre-fabricated, concrete, load-bearing, system, built on a strict geometrical modular idea, with a built-in flexibility capable of providing bays of diverse size within one block if necessary, and using the same standard elements.

The corridor wall panels 30 and 31 are formed with a cut-away portion 50 which corresponds to approximately half an opening for a doorway. It can be seen in FIG. 8,

that when two panels 30 and 30a forming one wall of the corridor are in position end to end, the top extension portions abut each other and the cut-away portions and 50a define a doorway opening. The advantage of this type of construction is that the unit panel construction of the wall is not weakened by a doorway recess such as if the doorway would be midway in a panel. Normally, the lateral wall panel members 10, for instance, would abut imdway of a single corridor wall panel unit 30 and the cut-away portions of two end-to-end wall panels 30 and 30a would be midway of a bay or room.

Referring now to FIG. 6 in the drawings, another embodiment of fioor elements is shown wherein each floor element A includes a central rectangular portion having vertical side edges 57. Rectangular tongues 59 and 61 extend longitudinally from each end of the central rectangular portion 55 and are substantially half the width of the central portion 55. Lateral edges of the central portion 55 forming the shoulders on each side of the tongues 59 and 61 are numbered 63 and are sloped inwardly downwardly. The lateral edges of the tongues 59 and 61 are sloped inwardly upwardly at 65. As can be seen from FIGS. 6 and 7, as these panels A are placed so that they are supported by two wall members 10, the tongues 59 and 61 extend past the wall members in a Ycantilevered style and the sloping edges of the tongues 59 and 61 mate with the sloping edges 63 of the shoulder portions of identical wall elements B.

The tongues 59b of an element B fill in the space between the tongue 61 of adjacent lioor elements A as shown in FIG. 6. Grouting can be provided between the various edges, such as at 63 and 65.

In this way, the adjacent staggered floor elements A and B are completely interlocked in a horizontal plane since their tongues are interlocked.

In a preferred embodiment, the manner in which the wall elements 10 or the corridor wall panels 30 and 31 are connected to a further wall in the same vertical plane, that is, between two stories as is shown in FIG. 9. The wall panel 10c is molded with anchor rods 65. In the upper portion of the wall 10d, oversized recesses are provided to receive the anchoring rod 65. As the walls are being positioned, that is, 10c over 10d, grouting is poured into the oversized hole 67 and the wall is placed so that the anchor rod sinks into the grouting in the recess 67. Of course, as the grouting is hardened, it anchors the anchor rod 65 connecting the two walls and 10c and 10d to each other.

I claim:

1. A concrete pre-fabricated space frame structure comprising,

means defining a plurality of spaced-apart vertical load bearing wall panels,

means defining a plurality of elements forming tioors,

said wall panels and said elements coacting to define bays or rooms,

said elements forming fioors including means defining a first type of element the length of which is greater than the spacing between adjacent wall panels and coacting with two of said wall panels so that each element of said first type spans the space between said two of said wall panels and projects beyond of the latter panels to form cantilevered portions,

said elements forming fioors further including means defining a second type of element the length of which is less than the spacing between adjacent wall panels and the ends of which are supported by means including cantilevered portions of two elements of said first type, the elements being staggered in checker-board fashion whereby the lateral edges of adjacent panels are non-aligned.

2. A-concrete pre-fabricated space frame structure comprlsmg,

means defining a plurality of spaced-apart vertical wall panels,

means defining a plurality of elements forming floors, said wall panels and said elements coating to define bays or rooms,

said elements forming floors including means defining a first type of element the length of which is greater than the spacing between adjacent ones of said wall panels and coacting with two of said wall panels so that each element of said first type the space between said two of said wall panels and projects beyond both of the latter panels to form cantilevered portions,

said elements forming floors further including means defining a second type of element the length of which is less than the spacing between adjacent wall panels and the ends of which are supported `by means including cantilevered portions of two elements of said first type,

wherein each of said wall panels are formed with a central tongue portion in each vertical edge so that vertically contiguous ones of said wall panels coact 'to define notches between consecutive ones of said tongue portions and further comprising,

vertical parapet beams supported in said notches.

3. A concrete pre-fabricated space frame structure comprising:

means defining a plurality of spaced-apart, vertical load-bearing wall panels,

means defining a plurality of elements forming floors, said wall panels and said floor elements coacting to define bays for formingV rooms,

said elements forming floors including certain elements supported by at least two load bearing wall panels, adjacent floor elements being staggered and forming an interlocking pat-tern in a horizontal fioor generally overlying a vertical wall panel,

said door elements comprising at least two distinct types, one type floor clement ha'ving a length greater than that of adjacent ones of said wall panels and having terminal cantilever portions projecting beyond the vertical wall panels, said other type fioor element having a length less than that of the adjacent tiwo wall panels and including terminal portions supported on the terminal cantilever portions of said one type fioor element.

4. The structure as claimed in claim 3 in which at least two end-to-end vertical wall panels define a cutaway portion at the end thereof substantially equal to one-half an opening required for a door opening, two end-to-end wall panels form a wall defining a door opening.

References Cited UNITED STATES PATENTS OTHER REFERENCES German printed application Das 1,021, 997, Jan. 2l,

Y 1958, to Lenya-Werke et al.

JOHN E. MURTAGH, Primary Examiner U.S. Cl. X.R. 52-23 6, 262 

